Physiological features include many details including face shape, fingerprints, skull structure, retina, palm geometry and DNA (Shutterstock).
Biometrics refers to the measurement and analysis of unique characteristics of the body and human behavior such as fingerprints, voice patterns, hand, retina, and iris measurements. This technology is an advanced field in computer science and information security, as it leverages individual biological or behavioral characteristics for identification and confirmation.
Their use is due to the urgent need to provide effective means to protect sensitive data and secure identity verification.
Fingerprints are one of the most common biometric methods, measuring and analyzing the fingerprint pattern in order to ensure the uniqueness of the identity.
In addition, other technologies, such as facial recognition, eye recognition, voice and palm recognition, are used to enhance levels of safety.
What are biometrics
The field of biometrics includes knowledge that represents methods for measuring a person's personal physical and behavioral characteristics and how they are used for identification or authentication purposes through scientific means that describe and measure characteristics.
Biometric identification is often called pure or real authentication because it relies on a personal feature rather than a virtual key or password.
A range of biodistinguishable individual traits are used to identify or verify an individual, enabling accurate and rapid identity verification without the need for passwords or ID cards.
The technology combines advances in computer science and biology, making it an effective way to enhance security in areas such as systems access and digital identity verification.
In the 21st century, face, voice and eye recognition began to be used in biometrics (Shutterstock).
History of Biometrics
When examining the origin of the word "biometrics", you can divide it into two Greek words, "bio", meaning life, and "metrics", meaning measurement.
Automated biometric solutions have only become available over the past few decades, following tremendous advances in computer processing capabilities.
However, many of these modern automated technologies are based on ideas that originated hundreds or thousands of years ago, where biometrics were used simply in some areas. Fingerprints were used as a method of signing documents in ancient societies, where the pharaohs resorted to fingerprints to stamp documents.
Although the initial examples of biometrics date back to the Babylonian Empire, the first biometric identification system was not developed until the nineteenth century.
In the eighties, Alphonse Bertellon devised a way to classify and compare criminals based on their body measurements. Edward Henry developed the fingerprint standard, which became the first identification system used and relied on the fine details of fingerprints. The nineteenth century saw major developments in biometrics, including the creation of fingerprint databases.
William Herschel is credited with the first systematic capture of finger and hand images taken for identity verification purposes. Bertillon developed anthropometry, or "bertelunag," used to identify people based on specific records of their body measurements, photographs and physical descriptions. Francis Galton authored an in-depth study of fingerprints as a means of identification in 1888.
Galton published his book Finger Prints in 1892 in which he provided an explanation for the uniqueness of fingerprints and their effective use as a means of identification, including the first published classification system for fingerprints.
Major breakthroughs in biometrics occurred in the twentieth century, including the use of iris patterns and hand geometry for personal identification.
With the advancement of information technology in the twenty-first century, advanced methods such as facial recognition, voice recognition and eye recognition have begun to be used.
Fingerprints are one of the most common biometric methods where they measure the fingerprint pattern in order to confirm identity (Al Jazeera)
Types of biometrics
Biometrics are usually based on individual physiological or behavioral traits that are difficult to falsify:
Physiological features: These include facial shape and geometry, fingerprints, skull shape and structure, retina and iris, palm or finger geometry, thermal imaging of the face and hand, drawing veins on the palm or finger, and DNA.
Behavioral traits: These include signature and drawing recognition, dynamic characteristics of typing, keystroke dynamics, speaker recognition, and gait recognition.
There are some common types of biometrics that use biological or behavioral features to verify identity across a wide range of applications, from cybersecurity and access to systems, to identity verification at airports and sensitive areas, such as: fingerprints, facial recognition, eyes, palm, voice, writing, walking, veins and biometric features.
The use of biometrics to enhance data security is an effective method of identity verification and information protection. Biometrics have many advantages, including:
Security: Biometrics may be more secure than traditional methods of identification, such as passwords or cards.
Convenience: Biometrics may be more comfortable than traditional methods of identification, where no information is required to be remembered or entered.
Efficiency: Biometrics may be more efficient than traditional methods of identification, as they can be used to process transactions quickly.
Biometrics can be used to enhance data security in several ways, including:
Identity verification: Fingerprints are used to log on to a computer or network.
Access control: Facial recognition is used to open a door or lock.
Tracking: Voice recognition is used to record a user's voice input.
Here are some specific examples of how biometrics can be used to enhance data security:
In banking: You use fingerprints or facial recognition to log into a bank account or make a transaction.
In healthcare: where fingerprints or voice recognition are used to access patient records or manage access to medications.
In security: facial recognition or voice recognition is used to identify or verify people's identities.
Overall, biometrics help enhance data security by making it difficult for attackers to access, change, or delete data.
Biometrics raise concerns because they could be used to track people or collect their personal data
Security challenges and privacy issues
While biometrics is effective in improving security and identity verification, it faces some security and privacy challenges, and it is important to consider these challenges when deciding whether to use biometric technology to enhance data security.
Here are some of the challenges to consider when using biometrics to enhance data security.
Privacy: Biometrics may raise concerns because they can be used to track people, collect their personal data, or store it unsecurely, and there may be a risk that sensitive biometric data will be disseminated online when used for network verification, and this biometric data may be used in unauthorized ways, putting individuals' privacy at risk.
Circumvention: Biometrics may fail in some cases, such as the use of masks or other means, there may be challenges in securing biometric systems against hacking and manipulation attempts, hackers may try to clone biometrics and use them for unauthorized access, and users may be targeted for obtaining biometrics via phishing techniques.
Cost: Biometrics can be expensive, especially for large-scale applications.
Discrimination: Biometric technologies may be used to discriminate against people, which may raise concerns about equality and justice, as facial recognition can be used to refuse people access to public places based on their appearance.
Overall, biometrics is a promising technology that can be used to improve the security and efficiency of the identification process, however, it is important to know the potential advantages and disadvantages of this technology before using it. It is important to clarify security and privacy policies and implement effective security technologies to overcome these challenges and ensure that biometric technology is used safely and sustainably.
There are a number of potential solutions to the security and privacy challenges associated with technology, including:
Improved security technologies: More effective security technologies can be developed to protect against counterfeiting and intrusion.
Educating users: by educating users about the risks of biometric technology and how to protect their personal data.
Enact privacy protection legislation: Legislation can be enacted to protect privacy from the misuse of biometric technology.
By taking these measures, the risks associated with biometric technology can be reduced and made safer and more private.
In 2022, the market for digital identity solutions reached $28 billion (Reuters)
The future of technology and its trends
Biometrics is expected to continue to grow in the coming years and is expected to become more prevalent in a variety of applications, including personal verification, individual identity verification, enhanced data security, surveillance, banking and healthcare.
Here are some of the key trends that are expected to shape the future of biometrics: the trend towards behavioral biometrics, the trend towards integrated biometrics, and the trend towards portable biometrics.
Notable figures
Due to rapid technological advancements, especially in the past few years, the use of biometrics has expanded from criminal identification systems to a wide range of industries and daily tasks.
In 2020, it is estimated that 80% of active phones in North America, Western Europe, and Asia Pacific are integrated with biometric authentication systems.
According to Statista, the value of the digital identity solutions market in 2022 was about $ 28 billion, with expectations to exceed $ 83 billion by 2028. While the global biometric systems market value in 2022 was estimated at 43 billion, the market is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years to reach 83 billion by 2027.
The market for automated fingerprint recognition systems was valued at $5.32 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow to $15.42 billion by 2028. The iris recognition market lost its value by about $4 billion in 2022 and is expected to exceed $8 billion by 2027.
The facial recognition market was valued at $5 billion in 2022, and the market is expected to grow to $19.3 billion by 2032. The global voice recognition market is expected to grow from $10 billion between 2020 and 2021 to nearly $50 billion in 2029.
Biometrics continues to evolve, being used more widely in many industries and applications, and advances in computing and bioanalysis continue to shape the future of this technology.
New and advanced biometrics are likely to be developed in the future, such as AI biometrics, smell recognition, heart rate pattern recognition, and DNA signature.
Source : Al Jazeera